Katamari Damacy REROLL is a weird game in an even weird series. It’s the sort of game that is incredibly easy to explain and at the same time almost impossible to explain totally. It’s like a riddle wrapped in a conundrum tucked inside a creepy dude with a huge head that loves showing his bulge.

 [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”14″]Developer: MonkeyCraft

Publisher: Bandai Namco

Genre: Action, Casual

Platform: PC [reviewed], Nintendo Switch

Release: Dec 6, 2018

Price: $29.99 [/perfectpullquote]

In Katamari Damacy REROLL you, well, roll again as this is a remaster of the original. You play the prince of the cosmos and you are tasked with rolling up all sorts of stuff on earth to help return the stars to the sky. To accomplish you you push a little ball and roll over other items, sticking them onto said ball and growing in size. 

The second challenge is in growing your katamari ball thing. You can’t simply roll over anything and expect it to get snatched up, instead you need to start with items smaller than your ball and after you hit certain sizes you’ll be able to collect the bigger items in each stage. Along the way you need to avoid baddies and bigger things that will knock stuff off your ball.

The basic challenge comes from two main places. The first is in the game’s controls. I’ve played a number of entries in the Katamari series, but I’ve never quite become comfortable with the controls. Although, I do think this is intentional as it keeps you just slightly off balance which leads to a numbers of silly things. 

This makes for a fantastic experience as even with the smaller stages in this entry you’ll explore a lot and slowly grow bigger allowing you to return to areas you couldn’t either access or locations with junk you were too small to be able to suck up. It’s not overly complicated and its all the weird stuff in each stage and the characters in them that keeps things fun. 

You can pick up thumb tacks and domino pieces and before you know it you’ll get rolling up cats, potted plants, and eventually whole freaking islands. Each stage throws a ton of things at you and it’s always a treat simply rolling around exploring and growing your ball. This isn’t a serious game and it never takes itself that way.

The story is simply a vehicle to be weird and give some sense of reason the this madness. But what I think really makes Katamari Damacy REROLL, and by extension the other games in the series, is the incredible musical choices. It’s the kind of stuff that will just put a smile on your face and have you humming it long after you’re done playing. 

Music is an interesting beast in modern gaming as t he medium has gotten bigger, better, and more cinematic, but I also think it’s lost the charm it once had in simpler days. Sit back and try to hum the main theme of a recent AAA release. I bet most of you can’t do it.

Katamari Damacy REROLL features iconic tracks and a main theme that is probably already playing in your head as you read this if you’re familiar with the series. Katamari Damacy REROLL puts one thing before all others and that’s fun. It’s the sort of game that is hard not to just like, from the simple visual style, to the weird story, to the fantastic music.

But as this is a port/remaster of an old PS2 game and the first appearance of the series on PC it isn’t a perfect game. I initially figured the game was broken upon initial launch as it’s forced into windowed mode and blasting music at full volume. The game starts and you can’t change any settings anywhere.

It’s not until after the tutorials Katamari Damacy REROLL throws at you are you allowed to enter the main hub planet where you can then set the game fullscreen, turn down the volume and adjust a couple of settings. I know it worked in the PS2 game since it’s a console, but it’s a weird thing that is going to confuse PC gamers for sure. 

Another thing of note is that the game requires a controller to get real enjoyment out of. You can totally play the game with a keyboard but it was never intended to be played this way. Katamari Damacy was designed to take full advantage of the PS2 analogs sticks for everything, so a keyboard is only going to kill the experience. 

Those few issues aside, it’s great that the original Katamari finally made it to PC and modern consoles like the Nintendo Switch in this remastered form. The PS2 original was fantastic and it still holds up in 2018, the simplistic graphical choices and fun gameplay really helping it always look fresh and original. 

If you are a silly person looking for a silly game then Katamari Damacy REROLL is the title for you. If you’ve played later games in the series there won’t be anything here outside the nostalgia, but if you are new to the game this is the perfect place to start. 

“Katamari Damacy REROLL is as weird as ever and that makes us happy”

Final Score:

3/5

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